It was with some delight I learned that Caymanian, Kurt Walton, will from April 1^st become a chief superintendent in the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS).

Mr. Walton is 44 years old and hails from Cayman Brac. He has been in the RCIPS since 1986. He has been acting as chief superintendent for the last 10 months since the post was vacated with the departure of Chief Superintendent John Jones.

Born and educated in Cayman Brac, Mr. Walton joined the RCIPS in 1986 and worked both in George Town and East End. The first nine years of his police career were served in Uniform and CID until his promotion in 1995 to Detective Sergeant. On promotion he was transferred to West Bay. During his tenure in West Bay he led an investigation which resulted in a serial rapist being sentenced 15 years. In addition his tenacity led to three suspects who shot a man during a gas station robbery receiving substantial prison sentences.

In 1999, he was transferred to Cayman Brac, before returning the Grand Cayman in 2000. In 2001 he took up duties within the Financial Crime Unit. His duties there included a secondment to the Royal British Virgin Islands Police Service (RBVIPS) to investigate a corruption case involving government ministers. This case led to two ministers serving terms of imprisonment.

In 2003 he was promoted to the rank of Detective Inspector and transferred to the Drugs Task Force, until he moved to uniform Inspector in the Eastern Districts in September 2004. There Mr. Walton led a team of officers in the hunt for a sex offender who had subjected a woman to a terrifying attack. The man responsible was sentenced to 22 years in prison and the presiding magistrate personally commended Mr. Walton for his efforts.

From late 2004 until 2006 he resumed his CID duties and led several investigations into gang related shootings, receiving a Commissioner’s award for the successful prosecution of a Grand Court matter related to those shootings. Promoted to Detective Chief Inspector in 2006, Mr. Walton headed back to the DTF and led a number of drugs and firearms importation operations resulting in thousands of pounds of marijuana, several shipments of cocaine and ammunition being seized.

In 2007 he was promoted to Detective Superintendent and became the Head of Specialist Proactive Operations, overseeing a joint operation with local and international law enforcement partners. The operation led to the seizure of 17 firearms and thousands of rounds of ammunition, both here and in the USA.

In May 2012 he began the Acting Chief Superintendent role where he reviewed and coordinated a robust command and control process to deal with critical incidents. His performance in that Acting role and in the subsequent promotion interview process was enough to convince the RCIPS Commissioners that he was the right choice to fill the post on a substantive basis.

Mr. Walton, who is married with two children and coaches youth football in his spare time, is delighted with his promotion. He said “I would like to thank commissioner Baines and his deputy commissioners for giving me the opportunity to lead the RCIPS over the previous ten months in the role of Acting Chief Superintendent and now having the confidence that I can continue to do so in the substantive rank.

“I took that role on knowing the immense responsibility that came with it and the economic challenges the RCIPS were facing while ensuring that our responsibility to keep the Cayman Islands a safe place to stay and visit remained paramount.

“I will continue to do my endeavor best to lead the good men and women of the RCIPS in delivering a professional service to the people of the Cayman Islands and to proactively and decisively bring those persons to Justice who wish to cause our community the most fear”.

Speaking of the promotion Commissioner David Baines said, “Kurt is a career RCIPS officer. He was the ideal candidate to lead and further develop our Command team to ensure that we continue to provide the policing service the people of the Cayman Islands deserve, with the resources and finance available.

“He has done a great job for the RCIPS over the past 26 years and has been outstanding while in the role of Acting Chief Superintendent. I am sure that he will continue to do extremely well in the substantive role and that he will be a role model for other young Caymanians who aspire to be future leaders in the RCIPS.”